Serendipity Patch

Thursday, 17 July 2014

Well, life round here seems to go from "not much happening" to "too much to do". The house moving plans are finally back on which means a huge amount of tidying and cleaning before we think about letting anyone see the place. The garden has been having a massive trim and I've been working my way round the house, cleaning paintwork, moving furniture and generally getting rid of heaps of "stuff" in an effort to make it look a bit more presentable. There's still plenty to do, but I'm in need of a break today, with the heat making it very uncomfortable work.

I found time to snap some garden pics and some of my streptocarpus which are filling the greenhouse with colour at the moment.

Apologies if I'm not around blogland as much as I'd like for a while. I'm trying to get the crochet blanket finished, doing a few joining rows here and there, so hopefully I'll be able to show you soon. In the meantime,

Wednesday, 25 June 2014

Taking a break from crocheting yesterday, I went down to Bournemouth to visit youngest daughter and see the end of year degree exhibition at the Arts University . Afterwards she was keen to take me to Hengistbury Head, knowing I'd love the beach huts and she wasn't wrong. We had a lovely time wandering around, imagining how great it would be to own one of these little treasures. I took heaps of photos, but have picked out some of my favourites.

There are more than 300 huts, arranged back to back along a long spit of sand. Some face towards the nature reserve and the beautiful Christchurch harbour. Others face the dunes and beach with stunning views to the Needles on the Isle of Wight. No wonder they are some of the most expensive in the country. ( Around £150k plus £2000 p.a. ground rent) We peeped in a few and they are surprisingly large, with sofa beds and good size kitchens, many having sleeping lofts and bunk beds. There are shower/toilet blocks and water standpipes, though no electricity, but solar panels and gas fridges would make them very comfortable.

The beach cafe is a great place to watch the world go by.

Here's an image showing some of the huts on the right, with the nature reserve in the foreground. You have to leave the car and take to the footpaths, (if you're feeling fit)

Or take the little land train which is more fun!

To end the day we went to the beach a little further along the coast, towards Southbourne, where it was almost deserted, and had a paddle, before reluctantly heading home

Saturday, 21 June 2014

With Hubby away for a few days this week I decided it was a good time to dig out the crochet blocks that have been sitting unfinished for over a year and get on with turning them into a blanket at last. I've looked at them so many times, but couldn't face doing all that cream and kept putting it off. Deciding to use lots of colours instead suddenly made it more "me" and I love how they're turning out. 72 done, 72 to go!

Lottie's not very impressed, but perked up at the mention of walkies.

It seems to be a good year for elderflowers, the garden full of their musky scent. My daughter made some wine with them a few years ago and it was delicious. I thought about having a go, but decided to try some elderflower gin. The stems are toxic apparently so I pulled off the flowers from a bowlful of heads and just added them to a couple of clean jars and topped up with gin and a bit of sugar. (4 tbsp for each 70ml jar)

The flowers near the top did turn brown, but I don't think it mattered. After leaving for about a week I strained it through some muslin and returned it to the same bottles. I tried it with lots of ice in some sparkling lemon flavoured water rather than tonic and it was lovely and refreshing and delicately scented. Just the thing for the hot weather.

Monday, 9 June 2014

Blogging seems to have slipped down the list just lately, but here's a bit of what I've been up to in the last couple of weeks.

Another quilt top finished. I wanted to to something quite simple and settled on this layout of half square triangles. Most were made eight at a time using pairs of 11" squares like This. Nice and easy and endless ways to arrange them!

I took the chance to photograph the finished churn dash quilt top as well. Maybe one day they'll all get quilted, but I'm not promising anything!

Some of the showier pelargoniums have moved outside for the summer. I don't remember ordering the red one, but rather like it as a change from the usual pinks and whites.

Everything's shuffled round in the greenhouse, with the streptocarpus having their own shaded area which they seem like.

The one on the right, "Ruth" is one of a few new ones ordered after I saw Dibleys nursery on the Chelsea flower show TV coverage. They describe it as "coral", but I think it's the prettiest shade of crushed strawberry. I hope it thrives as it looks like it'll be a favourite.

I also ordered a begonia rex "Pink Champagne" which looks quite at home. I think they're one of those "marmite" plants you either love or hate, but I really like this one.

Elsewhere in the garden the clematis and roses are looking gorgeous.

And I was struck by the amazing wispy cloud patterns yesterday. Just like a painting!

Saturday, 17 May 2014

Hello! Not much to report here at the moment. Just making the most of the beautiful weather and feeling quite soporific, like the bee I watched slowly visiting every little flower on my pelargoniums, seeming to find the rosy scent quite intoxicating!

Loving the wild flowers, especially this pink campion

Cleaning and sorting more of my old pot collection. I finally got to the last batch that I hadn't touched since buying the 6 box "job lot" years ago! I'm never going to use them all, but they are lovely to look at and fascinating knowing that many of them were handmade over 100 years ago. Eek! Just noticed how mucky the glass is :(

Playing around with my fabric stash and loving this combo of creamy reds and blues. I'm thinking maybe lots of quarter square triangles in the Dutch style, or perhaps Log Cabin? The churn dash one has been put to one side for the moment until I find the right fabric for a border.

About Me

I live in the Hampshire countryside with my husband and Lottie the whippet. Our two girls have (sort of) flown the nest. When not pottering in the garden I love to crochet. Quilts are also a passion, especially old ones. Oh! and there's a dolls house to finish and the family tree to update. Too many interests, not enough time! Thanks for stopping by.
Debbie xx